Dartmouth welcomed back an alumnus to the Big Green coaching staff in 2011 with the hiring of Chris Rorke, who is in his fourth season as the quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator.

In his first year back on campus, Rorke worked with veteran quarterback Connor Kempe as the senior finished his career third on the Dartmouth charts with 4,499 passing yards. Rorke installed a possession-oriented passing scheme, which allowed the Big Green to throw fewer interceptions than any team in the Ivy League. He did even better work in 2012 as Dartmouth featured two quarterbacks with little to no experience, yet combined to rank 20th in the nation in pass efficiency and 33rd in passing offense as freshman Dalyn Williams was selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Last year, Williams had three games with at least 340 total yards and threw for 1,773 yards, placing him among Dartmouth’s top 10 in career passing yardage at the end of his sophomore campaign.

A New England native and 1989 graduate of Dartmouth, Rorke played his senior year with the Big Green under the direction of Coach Teevens, who had been hired before the 1987 campaign. After serving as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia Tech for two years — the second of which saw the Yellow Jackets earn a share of the national championship — he was hired by Teevens as the receivers coach. Rorke spent three years on the staff, helping the program win Ivy League titles in 1991 and ’92.

Most recently, Rorke was the offensive coordinator at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., since 2006, helping the Bantams to a 34-6 record during his five years. The 2008 squad broke numerous Trinity and NESCAC passing records, including yards in a season (2,206) and a game (470) en route to a NESCAC championship. In 2010, the Bantams were 7-1 and led the conference in rushing yards per game.

Rorke also spent three years as the offensive coordinator at Lehigh before plying his trade at Trinity, helping the Mountain Hawks earn a share of the 2004 Patriot League title. In his initial campaign in Bethlehem, Pa., he coached a quarterback who finished eighth in pass efficiency at the FCS level. The following year Lehigh grabbed a share of the title, and his offense led the league in scoring, passing and total offense that year and the next.

Before his stint at Lehigh, Rorke served as the head coach at Plymouth State from 1999-2002, leading the Panthers to an ECAC Northeast championship in his inaugural year and a share of the Freedom Football Conference title in 2001. That 2001 team led the league in scoring, passing and total offense.

His first stop after departing Dartmouth came at Illinois Wesleyan where he acted as the offensive coordinator. In his first season with the Titans, they won the College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin (CCIW) championship, then again in his third year (1996) as Illinois Wesleyan advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. In both 1996 and 1998, his offense led the CCIW in scoring and total offense.

A native of North Andover, Mass., Rorke started eight games at quarterback for the Big Green in 1987, throwing for 1,222 yards including 302 against Holy Cross, which was the third most in a Dartmouth game at the time.